Dunelm Group PLC (LSE:DNLM), the furniture retailer, will provide investors with a first-quarter update on Thursday 19 October and shareholders will be hopeful that an unusually cold summer, which saw one of the wettest Julys on record, caused Brits to flock to the high street rather than the local park.
Typically, summer is one of the tougher months in terms of sales for retailers and in previous years Dunelm has suffered revenue hits of up to £20 million.
Last year, a warm summer resulted in first-quarter sales dropping by 8% year-on-year to £357 million.
Dunelm’s first quarter is historically its weakest and on average accounts for 22% of full-year sales, which means, according to full-year estimates, revenues for the period would come in at around £380 million.
However, analysts at Peel Hunt Ltd (AIM:PEEL) believe the first-quarter figure is more likely to sit around the £400 million mark.
“Further to this point, medium-term forecasts look conservative – sales growth assumptions of 5-6% per annum look light against management’s store opening and data-led investment plans,” the boutique investment bank added.
“We suspect next week’s first-quarter update will provide some momentum behind the shares, which have pulled back since last month’s final results.”
Shares in Dunelm are up around 3% in 2023 and opened trading on Monday at just over 1,020p.